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To put the finishing touch to Madrid’s Easter, the Royal and Illustrious Congregation of Our Lady of Soledad y Desamparo is organising a drum parade in collaboration with Madrid City Council on 9 April.

The drum parade begins at 1pm by the La Real, Muy ilustre y Antiquísima de la Esclavitud de Jesús Nazareno y Conversión from the Santa María Magdalena Brotherhood in  Zaragoza who will enter the Plaza Mayor from Calle Ciudad Rodrigo to settle down in a “corral” in the centre of the Square. As part of the events, the Celebration of the Eucharist will begin in the Monastery of Corpus Christi Las Carboneras in Plaza Conde de Miranda at 11.45am.  

The 2023 drum parade route is: Plaza Conde de Miranda / Calle Puñonrostro / Calle San Justo / Calle del Cordón / Plaza de la Villa / Calle Mayor / Calle Ciudad Rodrigo / Plaza Mayor.

Like every year, the classic drum parade marks the prelude to the end of our journey through the churches and stations of the Passion. The music leaves the place of worship to go out to the whole city with a parade of fifty drummers that makes the walls of the town and its interiors rumble.

Whether you are from Aragon or La Mancha, Basque or from Teruel, - the Calanda drum parade from Teruel has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO -, the catharsis that is the roll of barrels, drums, bass drums and timpani is the same: the joy unloaded on the skin that produces that effect of belonging and commonality sealed by the forcefulness of the procession musicians.

Following tradition, the parade starts at the Carboneras Monastery in the Plaza Conde de Miranda and runs along the Plaza de la Villa until it reaches the Plaza Mayor, where the thunderclap breaks the last silence.